Fiber opening machine

ABSTRACT

The textile fiber-opening machine is provided with a feed roller having a plurality of pivoted pressure members individually spring biased toward the periphery thereof to assist in the feeding of the material of varying thickness therebetween. A breaking cylinder is also provided having a plurality of axially directed peripheral grooves. An assembly of toothed members are fastened together end-to-end. Such an assembly is inserted and retained in each of the grooves with the teeth projecting outwardly from the grooves to engage the material being fed by the feed roller.

United States Patent 1191 Morel 1451 Dec. 25, 1973 [54] FIBER oPENINGMACHINE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS [75] Invent Morel Cours, France584,933 9 1933 Germany 19/112 [73] Assigneez Constructions Mecaniques F.2,024 357 12/1970 Germany l9/234 Laroche & Fils, Cours (Rhone). FrancePrimary Examiner-Dorsey Newton At!orneyRichard C. Sughrue et a]. [22]F1led: Feb. 10, 1972 [21] Appi. No.: 225,167 57 ABSTRACT v The textilefiber-opening machine is provided with a [52] US. $1]. 19/97 f d rollerhaving a pluranty f pivoted pressure [5]] Int. Cl. D0lb l/00, DOIg l9/00bets individually Spring biased toward the periphery [58] Field ofSearch 19/97, 1 12, 234, thereof to assist in the feeding f the materialf Vary 19/1151 96; 29/110, 121 121 A1 121 ing thickness therebetween. Abreaking cylinder is 29/124 81 J1 81 L169/27 also provided having aplurality of axially directed peripheral grooves. An assembly of toothedmembers are [56] References C'ted fastened together end-to-end. Such anassembly is in- UNITED STATES PATENTS serted and retained in each of thegrooves with the 663,583 12/1900 Scaife 19/97 x teeth Projectingoutwardly from the grooves to engage 2,700,189 H1955 Mick the materialbeing fed by the feed roller. 3,445,895 5/1969 Barbod 19 97 3,646,639 31972 Burckhardt et al 19/97 4 Clalms, 7 Drawmg Flgul'es MlMlllfiflflWlfifififlfl (lfifillllll'lllfillfillf L,

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PATENTED 3.780.399

SHEEI 1 ll 3 PATENIEDD'EB25 1975 3; 780.399

' SHEET 3 0? 3 FIBER OPENING MACHINE The present invention relates tobreaking or opening machines of the kind which are used in the textileindustry, mainly to produce fibres from recovered waste fabric, or toopen up new fibres before carding or burrmg.

In machines of this kind, it is necessary to hold the waste or fibreswhilst they are acted upon by the teeth of a swift, and for this purposedifferent holding systems are utilised. On of the commonest of theseconsists of a rubber covered roller which draws the material on to asteel trough. Another known system comprises two fluted metal rollers.Both these known devices ensure a good grip on the material, but on theother hand, they have a disadvantage in that they do' not allow thepassage of an excess thickness of any kind, such as a pad of cuttings,representing fifteen to twenty thicknesses of cloth superposed on eachother, cords with knots, seams or very large tufts of fibrous material.As regards the component which is used for the opening up of the wasteof fibres, it is generally composed of a drum clothed with platescovered with round or fiat pointed teeth according to the nature of thematerial which is to be treated. The plates themselves are made fromsteel or wood.

It is a major disadvantage of these drums, that the teeth are relativelyfragile, which necessitates their frequent replacement.

The present invention has as one of its objects, a particularly robustfeeding and holding device for the waste or fibres, and as anotherobject, the provision of an opening up component which is a toothedcylinder of novel construction. I

According to one aspect of this invention, a textile breaking or openingmachine of the kind wherein a feed mechanism delivers the material to abreaking cylinder, has its cylinder formed with a plurality of axiallydirected peripheral grooves, and in each groove there is fitted anassembly of toothed-members fastened together end to end, thearrangement being such that the assembly of toothed members is retainedwithin its axial groove until released therefrom. The axial grooves andthe assemblies of toothed members are preferably so arranged that eachassembly can only be fitted in or removed from its groove by axialmovement.

Preferably, the toothed members in an assembly are clamped together byan axially applied compressive force, and it is preferred to providespacers fitted between adjacent toothed members. In a preferredarrangement, the toothed members and the spacers, if any, are threadedon to a common rod, and screw and nut clamping means are provided toapply the compressive force.

According to another preferred feature each groove is formed by a tubehaving a longitudinal slot in its cylindrical wall, and each toothedmember may comprise a short tube with a tooth projecting radiallyoutwards therefrom. It is also preferred that each tooth has a curvedprofile with a concave cutting edge, and a pointed tip after the fashionof a sickle.

According to another aspect of the invention, a textile breaking oropening machine has a feed mechanism which includes a feed rollerco-operating with a series of independently mounted troughs arranged inclose juxtaposition across the width of the feed roller. Preferably thetroughs are pivoted on a common shaft extending transversely of themachine. It is also preferred that each trough is resiliently loadedtowards the feed roller, and the resilient load may be provided by acoil spring, or by Bellville washers. Stop means are preferably providedto limit the movement of each trough towards the feed roller.

According to yet another preferred feature of the invention, thecylinder comprises a series of axially spaced discs supported on acentral shaft. In that case, the tubes may be received in holes formedin the peripheries of the discs.

Thus, a machine constructed in accordance with the preferred features ofthe invention has a feed system which ensures that there is a good gripon the material, whatever may be its nature, when it is being presentedto the breaking or opening cylinder. It is also to be observed, that thecylinder itself possesses interchangeable sets of teeth provided by theindividual assemblies, the number and distribution of the teeth beingcapable of selection in relation to the nature of the material which isto be worked.

Other advantages of the invention, will appear from the followingdescription of a textile breaking or opening machine, which is given byway of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through part of the machine, showingthe opening cylinder, and the material feed system,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, illustratingmaterial of excess thickness being admitted to the machine,

FIG. 3 is a detail view showing the mounting of a trough,

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross section through the breaking cylinder,

FIG. 5 is a section on the line V-V in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a section to a larger scale on the line VIVI in FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a section on the line VII-VII in FIG. 6.

There is illustrated in the drawings a breaking or opening machine,which essentially consists of a breaking cylinder 1, to which thematerial or textile waste is presented, whilst it is gripped between afluted steel feed roller 2, and a series of independently mounted steelfeed troughs 3, arranged side by side in close juxtaposition across thewidth of the machine, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2. Instead of beingfluted, the feed roller 2 could be provided with teeth.

The troughs 3 are independently pivoted on a common shaft 4 which iscarried by screws 15 passing through holes in a mounting block 14 whichis fastened to a stationary part of the machine. Locking nuts areprovided on the screws 15, for the purpose of securing the screws in anyadjusted position, so that it is possible to vary the position of theshaft 4 relatively to the cylinder 1, and to lock the shaft in such anadjusted position.

Each of the troughs 3 is resiliently loaded towards the feed roller 2,by loading means 5, which consists either of a coil spring, or a seriesof Bellville washers. The resilient means acts on the trough 3, througha collar 5a and a sliding rod 5b, which is of adjustable length. Thus byadjusting the length of the rod 5b, it is possible to vary the resilientload on each of the troughs 3.

Each of the troughs also has a stop finger 6 (see FIG. 3) which isadapted to engage with a regulating screw stop 7, secured in a bracketprojecting from the mounting block 14. The screw stop 7, is pre-set toensure a minimum distance 9 between the troughs 3 and the fluted roller2, so that in no circumstance can the troughs actually engage with thefluted roller 2, due to the pressure of the resilient means 5, whenthere is no material passing through the machine.

It will be seen by reference to FIG. 2, how the passage of a localexcess thickness 10 in the sheet of waste 8, causes the displacementonly of those troughs 3 which correspond to the width of the excessthickness, whilst the other troughs continue to operate normallythroughout the width of the machine. Consequently, the independentmounting and loading of the troughs 3, enables local irregularities inthe thickness of the material being fed through the machine to beaccommodated.

For the purpose of carrying material into the machine, there is anendless feed-belt 11, a pressing roller 12, which lies over the exit endof the belt 11, and a plain surfaced roller 13 below the path ofmaterial as it leaves the belt 11. The pressing roller 12, and the plainsurfaced roller 13 co-operate to feed the material as shown in FIG. 1towards the zone of co-operation between the fluted feed roller 2 andthe troughs 3.

Turning now to the construction of the cylinder 1, this essentiallycomprises a skeleton drum, formed by a steel shaft 16, two end plates ordiscs 17, and a series of axially spaced intermediate plates or discs18. All the discs 17 and 18 are fixed on to the central shaft 16, andthey are of the same outside diameters. This construction is clearlyshown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings. On the discs 17 and 18 aremounted a number of longitudinal tubes 19, these tubes being welded intorecesses formed in the peripheries of the discs 17 and 18, so that theouter portions of the tubes 19 lie in the circumferential plane of thecylinder. Each tube 19 is formed with a longitudinally extending slot20, which extends throughout the width of the cylinder. These tubes 19provide mountings for removable toothed assemblies, one of which willnow be more particularly described.

Each toothed assembly (see FIGS. 6 and 7) comprises a rod 27 on to whichare threaded alternately toothed members formed by bosses 22 with teeth23, and tubular spacers 26. The outside diameter of the bosses 22 of thetoothed members, and the outside diameters of the spacers 26 are such,that the bosses and spacers can fit easily into the bore of acorresponding tube 19 of the cylinder. Each tooth 23 is joined to itscorresponding boss 22 by means of a stem 21, which is able to passthrough the slot formed in the tube 19. Furthermore, each tooth 23 isprofiled in the shape of a sickle (see FIG. 7), that is to say it has aconcave cutting edge 24 and a point 25.

The bosses 22 and tubular spacers 26 form a stack on the rod 27, and thespacing between the teeth 23 can be predetermined by selecting anappropriate width 37 of the spacers 22. The ends of the rod 27 are screwthreaded, to receive locking nuts 28, and this rod not only serves toapply a compressive force to the toothed members and spacers for thepurpose of locking them together, but it also provides extensions 27awhich pass through end caps 19a on the tube 19, for the purpose oflocating the assembly of teeth 23 axially relatively to the cylinder 1.Locking nuts 280 are fitted on to the rod extensions 27a, for thepurpose of securing the rod in the correct lateral displacement.

By virtue of the special assembly of the teeth 23 in a stack on the rod27, the number of teeth can be regulated according to workingrequirements, since it is possible to fit assemblies of teeth into onlyselected ones of the tubes 19, or alternatively as shown in FIG. 5, suchsets of teeth may be fitted into every one of the tubes 19. Furthermore,it is possible to select the number of teeth to be mounted in each tube,by fitting spacers of variable thickness.

The invention has the added advantage of allowing the preparation ofspare sets of teeth for the breaking cylinder 1, in advance ofrequirements. In fact, it is sufficient for the user to prepare inadvance, assemblies of rods 27 and teeth 23 according to the projecteduse of the machine, and the type of textile material to be worked.

The action of disintegrating the fabric, or opening the fibrous materialis carried out by the cylinder 1 rotating in a clockwise direction asseen in FIG. 1, and tearing the material whilst it is held between thefeed roller 2, and the feed troughs 3.

It is to be understood, that the invention is not restricted to detailsof construction described with reference to the drawings. For example,the particular resilient means 5 illustrated in FIG. 1, could bereplaced by any other method of applying a loading force to theindividual troughs 3, urging them towards the feed roller 2. For thispurpose, mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic return means could be used.

Further with regard to the positioning of the teeth 23 on the rod 27inside each slotted tube 19, it will be appreciated that these tubes 19could be replaced by any other mechanical positioning system, forexample by rigid bars formed with T slots. It will be observed howeverthat once an assembly of teeth has been placed in position in thecylinder 1, it can only be removed therefrom by sliding out axially fromone end.

I claim:

1. A textile fiber opening machine comprising an opening cylinder, saidcylinder being comprised of a plurality of axially spaced apart discsand a plurality of parallel axially disposed tubes secured to said discsadjacent the periphery thereof, each of said tubes having a longitudinalslot therein so that said tubes define a plurality of axially directedperipheral grooves, a plurality of toothed assemblies each having aplurality of toothed members, connecting means for securing said memberstogether, each of said assemblies being disposed in one of said axiallydirected grooves with teeth of said toothed members projecting outwardlyfrom the periphery of said cylinder, and retaining means on saidcylinder and each of said assemblies for retaining said assembly in saidgrooves.

2. A textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein eachtoothed member is comprised of a short tube having a tooth projectingradially outwardly therefrom.

3. A textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein eachtooth has a curved profile with a concave cutting edge and a pointedtip.

4. Textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein thetube of each toothed member in an assembly is disposed on a common rodand further comprising screw and nut clamping means for applying anaxially directed compressive force to clamp said toothed memberstogether.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No.3 780,399 Dated December 25 1973 ln fl Andre Morel It is certified that errorappears in the above-identified patent and that" said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

In The Heading; 7

The Priority Date was omitted. Should be.

France.....................71

Signe'd andos ealed this 2nd" of {19741v (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M. FLETCHER,JR. I C.MARSHAL L DANN Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents FORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM'DC B0376-P69 U.S. GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE: I809 O-366-33"

1. A textile fiber opening machine comprising an opening cylinder, saidcylinder being comprised of a plurality of axially spaced apart discsand a plurality of parallel axially disposed tubes secured to said discsadjacent the periphery thereof, each of said tubes having a longitudinalslot therein so that said tubes define a plurality of axially directedperipheral grooves, a plurality of toothed assemblies each having aplurality of toothed members, connecting means for securing said memberstogether, each of said assemblies being disposed in one of said axiallydirected grooves with teeth of said toothed members projecting outwardlyfrom the periphery of said cylinder, and retaining means on saidcylinder and each of said assemblies for retaining said assembly in saidgrooves.
 2. A textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 1wherein each toothed member is comprised of a short tube having a toothprojecting radially outwardly therefrom.
 3. A textile fiber openingmachine as set forth in claim 2 wherein each tooth has a curved profilewith a concave cutting edge and a pointed tip.
 4. Textile fiber openingmachine as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tube of each toothed memberin an assembly is disposed on a common rod and further comprising screwand nut clamping means for applying an axially directed compressiveforce to clamp said toothed members together.